SUSTAINING POSITIVE CHANGE: INVITING CONVERSATIONAL CONVERGENCE THROUGH APPRECIATIVE LEADERSHIP AND ORGANIZATION DESIGN

Abstract

This chapter explores the power of appreciative inquiry in moving beyond a one-time intervention technique to sustaining positive change by creating on-going “conversational convergence” around continuously evolving futures and directions for an organization. A conversational map was created from nine years of change data revealing the centrality of language in creating and sustaining change. Awareness of the corporate conversational streams and the intentional influencing of these streams helped sustain the positive change process over this extended period. This influence was applied at the individual level by developing a commitment for appreciative leadership principles and at the corporate level by incorporating appreciative design elements into the organization’s social architecture.

Citation

Mantel, M.J. and Ludema, J.D. (2004), "SUSTAINING POSITIVE CHANGE: INVITING CONVERSATIONAL CONVERGENCE THROUGH APPRECIATIVE LEADERSHIP AND ORGANIZATION DESIGN", Cooperrider, D.L. and Avital, M. (Ed.) Constructive Discourse and Human Organization (Advances in Appreciative Inquiry, Vol. 1), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 309-336. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1475-9152(04)01014-2